


Cryptic Message

by TheCatNeedsAHobby



Category: Apex Legends (Video Games)
Genre: M/M, Mirage is smitten but Crypto is clueless, Porn With Plot, Slow Burn, starts off one sided
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-20
Updated: 2020-07-08
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:54:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,847
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24826390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheCatNeedsAHobby/pseuds/TheCatNeedsAHobby
Summary: Mirage is smitten with a certain hacker.  He's not perfect, sure, but he's cute and smart and Mirage can't help but daydream about him constantly, though not all of his thoughts are innocent.  Crypto is completely oblivious.  Not to mention he's a bit occupied uncovering the true nature of the Apex Games after receiving a cryptic message from both Wraith and himself.
Relationships: Crypto | Park Tae Joon/Mirage | Elliott Witt
Comments: 13
Kudos: 92





	1. A Date Proposal

The morning of the match was quiet. Crypto woke up, brushed his teeth, got dressed and checked to make sure everything on his drone was working right while his breakfast boiled in the rice cooker. Though he wouldn’t admit it out loud, his nerves were getting to him. The worry over ‘the big match’ had kept him up until four a.m. That, and the video games he had distracted himself with, though he regretted them now.

He crouched in front of his drone near his bed, rubbing dreariness from his eyes when the cooker clicked, telling him it was ready. He crossed over to it in a few steps. The rooms given to the legends were not the biggest, in fact he didn’t even have a living room, let alone a closet, but with money coming in from the games, they were promised renovations soon. Throwing together some seaweed, pickled radish, imitation crab meat, and some vegetables he wrapped and cut some gimbap and shoved the container into his backpack. Pausing, he grabbed the packet of imitation crab and dropped it in beside his water bottle equipped with a water filtration system. It was handy for being in the wilderness for a while. The game might last all day. It might only last a few seconds.

As the beginnings of dawn filtered through his blinds, he flipped his drone into his back pack and exited his room.

“Something is wrong,” Bloodhound murmured, crouched beside him.

  
Crypto had stopped to charge his shields and Mirage huffed up to them, stammering about a possible twisted ankle. He surveyed the area, searching for any sign of pursuit, but they seemed to have survived their first round.  
“I don’t see anything,” Crypto bent down beside them and took out his drone.

  
He flung his drone into the air and unlocked the controller. It hummed along the edge of their hiding spot and out into the open field beyond; highlighting the round symbol for ‘cameras’ that were placed along the arena so the games could be broadcasted, but he couldn’t find any enemies around. He recalled it but Bloodhound stayed motionless, their goggles staring down the scope of their sniper rifle.

“What- uh, what are you guys being all secretive about?” Mirage leaned in above them, blood trickling from a gash on his forehead where Bangalore’s punch had done a number on him. The two had gone for the same gun and ended up wrestling for it until Bangalore had straddled the trickster and gave him one last good punch to the side of his skull. As she reared back for another blow, Crypto had appeared and put a few bullets in her back. Mirage grabbed the gun, looking shaken but triumphant, all for a Mozambique.

  
The pistol flashed in the sunlight in Mirage’s hand as he leaned down. A few red drops dotted the bright yellow suit he wore. Crypto glared at him. He just had to wear The Revenger skin today. He might as well equip it with flashing neon lights and a siren.

  
“Did you even grab syringes?” Crypto growled.

  
“Of course I did, I’m not an idiot,” Mirage straightened up, then suddenly looked sheepish. “But, well, funny story… I dropped them.”

  
Sighing, Crypto dug into his backpack and saw a syringe. He closed it before Mirage could notice. “Sorry, I can’t help you.”

“Hey Bloodhound, do you- where’d they go?” Mirage’s eyes scanned the cliffs above for their teammate.

  
Crypto jumped down from the safety of the trees and skirted the cliffs to find Bloodhound crouched a few feet away, inspecting the grass. As he neared them he heard their voice turning to two as his ears picked it up through the headset and from them.

“I feel as though we should not be here.”

  
Normally their voice was calming, like the cool of a meandering stream, but this time it was ominous and haunting. A warning.

  
“What do you-”

  
“Guys! The ring!” Mirage bolted past them, holstering his hard won weapon.

  
Shocked, Crypto glanced backwards and was engulfed in an orange haze. He began running after his team as they raced across the open valley. His heart beat in his ears and fear coursed through his veins, making him push on harder. To a team with minimal resources who had barely made it out of their first encounter, the ring was a death sentence. What had started out as a muffled whine began to grow louder until he was grabbing at his ears in pain. To his relief he saw the edge of the ring halt just a ways a head of them.

  
Bloodhound’s scan lit up three targets. A bullet whizzed past Crypto’s ear and he aimed his L Star toward the top of the buildings before them. He scanned the roof tops, but couldn’t risk wasting his ammo on speculation. The ringing increased still and he felt the world start to spin. He stumbled and the ground came up to him faster than he’d anticipated. The hacker tried to push himself up, bullets ringing out alongside him, but his arms wobbled. Without warning he was slung over someone’s shoulder and hauled the last few feet to safety. Once he was outside of the ring, he was unceremoniously dropped to the ground. The ringing in his ears began to subside along with his nausea and the sounds of battle rushed back to him.

  
“I’m taking fire.” Bloodhound called, ducking out of their cover to return some shots.

  
“Could use some help here, I’m getting shot at,” Mirage fired a few rounds then turned to look at Crypto. “Hey bud, stay with me, ok?”

  
Fumbling, Crypto took out his controller and tossed his drone into the air. He took a shaky breath, held it for a moment and let it out slowly. It might have been his first match, but it wasn’t the first time he had been in a life or death situation. He could do this. The done buzzed out from their hiding spot and whirred above the building. The enemy team were on the roof, firing down mercilessly on the team below. Flying to the middle, Crypto could have sworn he saw the look of shock on Pathfinder’s face as the EMP went off.

  
“Shields are down,” he reported.

  
At the signal, Bloodhound and Mirage popped out from cover and fired upward.

“Got one down,” Mirage called.

  
Crypto sent his drone a safe distance away before grabbing his gun. He followed Bloodhound out into the dusty street and into the lower section of the building. They crept through, eyes darting around for any sign of movement. Dust particles floated in the sunbeams from the large windows but besides an empty desk the room looked empty. Suddenly Bloodhound’s arm shot out, blocking his way. They silently motioned to the edge of the staircase. Squinting, Crypto caught the yellow strip of a gas trap. He disengaged it with a well aimed shot and the two ascended the stairs.

They lost the match.

  
And now he was staring up at a fidgeting Mirage in his doorway at eleven at night. He caught his eyes flick down to his black t-shirt and green and white pajama pants.

  
“Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you,” he said, taking a step back into the hallway.

  
“You didn’t.”

“Oh, okay.”

  
Feeling the awkward silence drag on, he began to close the door. If the idiot wanted to stand in the hallway he could do it alone.

  
“Wait, um, I thought maybe we could get to know each other a bit better? Like I know we got off on the wrong side of the bed- er wait no, on the wrong foot, with you nearly ripping my arm off yesterd-”

“That’s your fault. You shouldn’t touch people you don’t know.”

“Me? You shouldn’t-” he sighed and dropped his gaze. “Look, I was thinking we could maybe hang out or grab a bite to eat later?”

  
“No.”

  
He didn’t try to mask his hurt. “Wait really? Why?”

  
“I don’t talk to people I don’t like.”

  
“Okay, ow. I’m not asking you to like me. I figured if we got to know each other better then maybe when we’re in a match we’ll be more likely to help each other out. You know, especially when you have something I could use.”

  
Crypto’s eyes shot up to his and he began to stutter.

  
“I-I mean or I could have something you need too. It goes both ways and all.”

  
They had lost the match because he hadn’t thought to heal up before engaging the enemy. Bloodhound and him had disengaged two more traps before rounding the corner and were met with a haze of bullets. The fourth trap was behind them. They went down, though Crypto had managed to take Pathfinder down with them, leaving just Caustic and Mirage running through the building. He was bleeding out as he heard the shots. One shot then two and the sound of the fifth trap went off before Crypto blacked out.

  
“I look after myself first. You should do the same.”

  
“So next time you fall in the ring you’d rather me leave you to die?” Mirage fixed him with a perplexed stare but Crypto didn’t reply. “Alright, sorry, my bad. Fuck me for trying to help, right?”

  
Crypto opened his mouth to reply when three legends walked past them in a group. Lifeline and Gibraltar murmured some greetings to them, but Wraith’s unblinking stare caught his eye. Her voice was nearly drowned out by Mirage’s cheerful banter. Her lips barely moved and for a few seconds he wondered if he'd heard anything at all.

“You should hide your recordings better.”

  
His eyebrows furrowed in confusion but she continued on down the hall and didn’t look at him again. Mirage joined the group, already chatting with them as though nothing had happened. Crypto stood watching them for a moment before closing his door.  
His hand stayed on the knob as his mind reeled. _How did she know about the recordings?_

  
Ever since he was on the run he started recording everything he could whether that be through his drone or the wire under his pajama shirt. He couldn’t afford to miss anything. He liked to be thorough. But how did Wraith find out about them? He was careful. Most of his recordings were protected on his drone or computer. No one would be able to access them. Even if they knew they existed they would get erased the moment they tried to break into the files if they didn’t do everything exactly right.  
He climbed back onto his bed and closed the game he’d been playing. After navigating through the safeguards he put up, he found the files left unbothered. He sat back as he watched today’s file upload. Wraith always seemed too knowing. She never seemed to be present and not in a Mirage way. Her mental absence seemed to be intentional. He hadn’t spent too much time around her, but he knew she could disappear into portals and that she could hear voices that warned her of dangers. That was the only information he could find; all thanks to him hacking into the Mercenary Syndicate data base, though it seemed someone had done their research on him too.

  
Feeling a bit uneasy, he glanced over his shoulder and gazed around the white walls. He maneuvered his drone to him and had it search for anyone nearby. The search didn’t show anything unusual as far as people went. Wattson, who lived across from him, was asleep already and his only neighbor, Revenant, was never in his room.

  
 _What did you expect, for her to be watching through the wall?_ Crypto was about to close it when something else caught his eye. Dread crept up his forearms. The round, familiar symbol popped up. He understood having them in the arena, there wasn’t another way of recording it, but that didn’t explain why there were cameras in his room.


	2. The Body

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mirage is busy fixing what he broke, but keeps getting distracted by Crypto.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Brief claustrophobia warning

The tools clattered to the ground as Mirage fumbled for the screwdriver. That’s what he got for not looking at what he was grabbing. He muttered under his breath and bent to pick them off the concrete. The door to the workshop swung open and he glanced up to see Crypto walk in.

“Oh, hi. You’re here early,” Mirage gave him a friendly wave, nearly dropping the tools again.

For once the prickly hacker didn’t roll his eyes or spit an insult. If anything he looked spooked. He was hunched into his jacket and his eyes darted around the room like an animal about to cross the street. On top of it, he looked like he hadn’t slept in days. Bags darker than usual hung under his eyes. Crypto muttered a greeting and went over to his own work station in the farthest corner of the room, an empty table acting as a buffer between them. Mirage pursed his lips in thought but figured it was best not to press him. The match was going to start in an hour and he might have just broken the suit. 

He had been a bit worried over the match. He knew he would easily win, he was the best legend of course, but he didn’t think there was any harm in being prepared, like by going invisible the entire match. Pacing his room wasn’t helping so he packed up his things and hauled it to the workshop down the hall. It wasn’t until he had mixed up a few wires, dropped and subsequently lost a few screws, and had been lightly shocked more than once that he remembered his mother’s knobbly finger shaking at him as she forbade him from touching it outside of the match. His fingers drummed on the table as he thought of what had happened moments before Crypto walked in. He had sent out a decoy but only a lower half walked out in front of him.

It was fine. He had watched his mom and her assistants work on it for hours, he could fix it. Trying his best to focus on the task at hand he set to work, but no matter how hard he tried he kept stealing glances at the hacker behind him. The other man was busy assembling and disassembling a small mechanical device. Whatever he was working on, he was fully enraptured by it. 

Mirage had to admit he was cute. He was easily agitated and could be rude, sure, but still cute. The man was damn smart too. Watching him in his element was something entirely different. His hands danced along the device in front of him as he tweaked, unscrewed and bolted. Every movement was calculated and certain and Mirage couldn’t help but admire him. His eyes began to roam along his high cheekbones to the metal running down his neck and ending at his collar bone. If his jaw and neck were partly synthetic would he feel a hand caress under it? Would he feel it if he brushed his lips against his ear and trailed kisses down his neck? The man’s neck muscles twitched as if in response. Mirage’s attention was caught once again by the expanse of chest poking out from under his black shirt. He looked good in black. Hell, he looked good in general. A bolt of fear mixed with arousal shot through him as Crypto’s eyes flicked up to meet his own. Mirage quickly turned back to his table. The man was smart but it wasn’t like he could read minds. _Could he?_

The lingering silence made him uncomfortable. He never liked when things were too quiet, but Crypto wasn’t one for talking so he started to sing instead.

Metal clattered to the table as Crypto dropped his tool. “Would you stop singing.”

“What? Am I a bad singer?” He let out a laugh. “Who am I kidding? I have the voice of an angel.”

“Not now, please.” 

His ears perked at the last word. As much as he liked hearing him beg, the desperation caught him off guard. He was always so in control of his emotions, to the point that he often came off as detached and callous, so to hear him plead was unsettling. “Alright, alright. I’ll keep it down.”

They got back to work but to his surprise the quiet hacker was the one to break the silence.

“What are you working on?”

“Oh um I’m just enhancing the cloaking device. I figured it’d be better if I could increase the time limit on how long I can go invisible for. But, well, my mom worked on it the first time. I mean, I helped but I think... I…. broke it,” he admitted. “I don’t know what I did to it either. Maybe if I-”

He tweaked something and a burst of blue electricity shot out. Frightened, he dropped the screw driver and began pacing with his fingers laced behind his head. “The game starts in an hour. I can’t play like this! There’s not enough time to send it to my mom. I don’t know what to do. Maybe I’ll just hide. That wouldn’t be bad, yeah?”

“Hmm. That sucks,” Crypto muttered, not really listening.

 _Crypto!_ Mirage sprung from his stool and jogged over to him. “Buddy, pal, look I could really use some help here. Would you mind helping me out? Please?”

“No.”

“Oh come on! I won’t ask you for anything else ever again. Just help me this once?” 

“I don’t have time,” as he spoke his eyes darted to the door. “Fix it yourself.”

Mirage bent down on his knees, clasping his hands in front of him. “I’m begging you, please help me. I’m literally on my knees. I’ll do whatever you want.” _I’d let you do whatever you want to me._ Even as desperate as he was, he knew better than to say that. _He’ll probably gloat about this later anyway._

An exasperated sigh escaped Crypto. “Fine. But remember, you owe me.”

As he stood up, he cast an uncertain glance toward the door, then moved over to Mirage’s workstation. He tested the decoy function, frowned as nothing happened, and began reorganizing the wires Mirage had messed with. Mirage hovered behind him like a concerned parent. Crypto kept shooing him away, but by the third time he seemed to accept his being there. Finally he handed it back to Mirage.

“Try it now.”

Gleefully, Mirage shouldered into his suit and hit the decoy escape. The discs lit up blue and another him appeared. He high fived it.

“Oh I never thought it’d be this good to see me! You’re wonderful! You’re brilliant! Seriously, thank you!”

Crypto looked up at him from his seat, wide eyed from the compliment. He blinked, grunted in reply, then returned to his own work station. As he pushed passed him, Mirage caught the telltale signs of a blush forming on his ears and he mentally took note to pay the man more compliments.

“What do you remember from yesterday?” Crypto inquired suddenly.

Mirage quirked an eyebrow. “Well I mean you weren’t being too nice, but I guess I, you know, had a part in it too. Sorry for overstepping anything.”

Crypto’s eyes softened and he tentatively set back to work. “I’m sorry about yesterday… I probably should have given you the syringe.”

“The syringe?”

“What? Was there something else you want me to apologize for?”

“How about nearly ripping my arm off?”

“You’re still upset about that? That was days ago.”

“That was yesterday.”

A look of concern crossed over his features but he didn’t stop working. “What about the match?”

“You mean today’s? What about it?”

Suddenly Crypto grabbed his small contraption and shoved it in his bag. He rushed toward the door but Mirage stood from his stool to catch his arm. 

“Woah, hey I don’t know what I said to make you so angry. Like really, I have no idea, but don’t just run out like that.”

Crypto jerked out of his grasp and stepped toward him, “Don’t touch me, old man.”

Without another word he darted out of the room, leaving Mirage alone in his confusion.

The hacker wasn’t there at the start of the game. Mirage didn’t know what could be more important than having thousands of fans watch you beat up everyone else and look good doing it. Caustic and Lifeline were assigned to be his teammates, though he had been separated from them right off the bat. He was crouching in the doorway of the building he’d landed on, trying to get a hold of either of them through the headset.

“Hey guys, this is very funny and all but seriously, where are you?” He hoped if they heard him they hadn’t caught the desperation edging his voice. Being alone was not something he particularly liked. Static answered him. Sighing, he rested his head in his hands. Mirage regretted not hearing his team’s strategy briefing. He had been too focused on the absence of a certain brooding hacker to really pay attention to anything. He was sure they had said Fragment East was the best choice. Or maybe they had said it was the worst choice. Either way, that’s where he had landed. Alone. 

A whirring sound made him look up. A familiar green and white drone buzzed through the air then stopped outside of the window as he caught sight of it. Mirage lifted the gun, his finger itching to pull the trigger but hesitated. Crypto hadn’t been there at the start of the game so he wasn’t really a participant. The light on the drone flashed green as it floated into the room. _Green was a friendly color, right?_ He reasoned as he waited for it to turn red and start attacking him. It stopped in front of him as he stood to meet it, the low hum of its inner mechanisms ever present. 

“Crypto?” he ventured, but to his disappointment it only flashed in response.

It turned and floated down the stairs. He watched it disappear around the corner then reappear a few seconds later. It seemed to be staring at him.

“D-do you want me to follow you?” 

It flashed again. As it guided him out of the building, he kept his distance, still waiting for it to turn on him. He never trusted robots. Something about them never sat right with him. He kept glancing around every corner and throwing out a decoy whenever he could as the drone led him out of Fragment East and toward Harvester. As the two crossed the broken landscape, Mirage couldn’t help but peer over the edge. Heat radiated from the crevice and the weight of his boot sent dirt spiraling down into the boiling lava below. He jerked back, a bit frightened. Glancing around, he realized his guide hadn’t waited for him. 

“Uh, little buddy?” he called quietly, then instantly regretted it as he heard the rapid fire of an energy weapon in the distance.

The drone whirred out from behind a cliff and flashed then veered away from Harvester and toward the caves that lead off into Train Yard. He ran to catch up and trotted inside the looming cave. The scent of damp earth hit his nose and the sound of something skittering behind made him whirl around with his pistol up. A mouse was a few feet away, it’s whiskers twitching as it searched the bottom of a supply crate for something to eat. Embarrassment burned his ears. As the crate opened, the mouse darted away and Mirage picked up a knock down shield and a syringe before following his robotic guide.

It stopped in front of the vault then turned the other way before disappearing into the wall. Surprised, Mirage padded up to where the drone had disappeared and spotted a small crack in the wall, barely wide enough for anyone to pass through. The pulsing light of the drone head was just beyond him, so he checked the area for any enemies, sucked in his stomach and began to squeeze into the crevice. The rock felt cool on his fingertips and every once in a while he’d flinch as he caressed something wet. Within a few feet the darkness engulfed him entirely and as he struggled to get through he started to panic. _What if I get stuck like this?_

His ribs were pressed roughly against the rock walls as he tried to take in a full breath of air, but there wasn’t enough room in the cramped space. Panicked, he began to shuffle faster, his breathing coming out in short gasps as he made his way blindly through the passage. A breathy yelp escaped him as he fell. His shoulders twisted painfully as he barely managed to stop himself from face planting in the dark. Panting, he felt forward with his hands, trying to get a feel for his surroundings. The drone drifted toward him. The light illuminating from it’s head was enough to give him the sense that he was in a small cavern. Mirage pushed himself up to his feet then froze as he caught sight of his hand. Blood glistened on his fingers. In the corner he could make out the slumped shape of a body.


	3. The Message

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Crypto finds a note from himself.

At first Crypto thought it was blood. He had dragged himself out of bed and flicked on the bathroom light; flinching as his eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness when the crimson marks had caught his eye. Opening his palm, he inspected the wound, only to realize it was his own handwriting. It was smudged between the small creases in his hand, but he could make out the Hangul lettering that translated to ‘wash rice cooker’. 

_When did I write that?_

Something was amiss. He always washed his dishes before going to bed. The only times he didn’t was when he was too sick or too drunk. His head pounded, but he knew it was due to a lack of sleep rather than a hangover. Dropping his arm, he wandered over to his cramped kitchen. The plastic feet screeched against the counter as he pulled the rice cooker to him. He popped it open and peered over the brim of the black metal bowl inside; concern flickered in the back of his mind as he decided it was spotless. Frowning he picked it up and looked underneath it before turning it around. Something clunked inside it. He set it down and saw the slightest bit of yellow peering out from inside the clear plastic square on the back. He tugged it open. Though he could only see the sides of it sticking out from the paper, he immediately recognized it as a USB stick. A hand reached up to the array of them on his neck. Sure enough, one was missing. Unwrapping it, he went to plug it into his computer but the note stopped him. In the middle of it was the symbol for ‘camera’. 

He understood. 

Shoving the items into his pajama pants pocket, he went back to his room to perform his morning routine. After he was dressed and ready for the day, he bent down to pretend to work on his drone. He had it search the area. Sure enough, there were cameras in just about every corner of the room. Sweat beaded his forehead and he had to lace his hands together to still them. He searched the area for any blind spots and found one near his bathroom door. Using his body to block potential lines of sight, he manually punched a command in.

Casually, he strode over to his computer, propped it up on his arm and leaned against the door frame, hoping his head would block the nearest camera from seeing his screen. He set his computer so that it was automatically disconnected from all networks and would restart using only the bare minimum of programs. As a test run, he rebooted it and counted off thirty seconds before it was ready to be used. He set it down on his bed and grabbed a bagel from the cabinet. The EMP went off.

He raced over to his computer and booted it up, tapping off every second with his fingers against his thigh as he paced with it. Right as he hit thirty the computer was ready. Clicking in the USB he worried his lip. He surmised he had about a minute before the cameras were back up and he had spent half of it waiting for his computer. Luckily the video started playing without any issues.

It took Crypto a moment to recognize the partly shaved head as his own as he looked around the arena. The camera was placed just above his shoulder. As he watched he slowly eased himself on to the couch, trying to process seeing him take down Bangalore and watching Mirage scramble for a pistol. He quickly closed the laptop. Estimating that the cameras would be up in a few more seconds, he grabbed his backpack, recalled his drone, and was out the door.

  
  


Crypto felt the soft caress of hands on his body. Sliding in and out of consciousness, he tried to push the hands off of him, but his own were easily batted away. A sharp piercing pain in his arm jarred him out of his fog. Mirage’s face was a few inches from his own. Worry creased his eyebrows and he opened his mouth to say something but Crypto was already digging out his controller. He popped it open and the digital screen appeared, shedding green light on the rocks around his head.

“Just a few minutes to spare,” he clicked it back shut and nodded to his drone. “Good job.”

“Uh, what’s going on?” Mirage laid the used syringe on the floor in front of him.

“My contingency plan, in case things went wrong.” A grunt escaped him as he sat up.

The trickster shifted to sit crossed legged, his head tipped ever so slightly to the side in confusion. The thought of keeping him clueless crossed Crypto’s mind but he wasn’t that sadistic. The man had come to his rescue after all.

“I shut down the system so I could escape, but…” he gestured to the blood stains on his clothes. “Things went wrong. I was found out. I didn’t even see who had shot me. I had mapped out a spot that no one else would find and ended up here.”

He remembered stumbling through the bushes and trees, bleeding and continually passing out. It was just his luck that the two supply bins he went by only had gun attachments in them. 

Mirage itched his temple in bewilderment. “Okay, um… I’m lost. Who shot you?”

“I already told you, I didn’t see them.”

“And why did you get shot?”

“Because I shut down the system.”

“And you did that because…?”

Crypto gave a huff of contempt. He didn’t have time to explain everything. He tried to get to his feet but a dizzying sensation sent him stumbling forward. Strong arms wrapped around his chest, keeping him from falling.

“Woah there,” Mirage set him back down gently. “I’ll go find a med kit or even better I’ll wave down a ship. I think you’re done for today.”

“No!” Crypto grabbed his hand then, feeling suddenly self conscious, he let go. “Joesonghamnida. You can’t tell anyone I’m here. I think- no, I know there’s something really wrong with the Apex Games. I think they’ve been going on for awhile now.”

“What? Today’s is the first match ever. And here I am spending it with you. Not that I mind really, it’s just it’s not how I imagined it is all.”’

Crypto fought the urge to snap at the man, but he knew his anger wasn’t directed at him. He had confirmed yet again all his suspicions. 

“Why did it search me out?” Mirage asked, motioning to the drone.

“Because anyone else would have expected a trap. You’re the only one who wouldn’t hesitate. It’s not in your nature to be suspicious.”

“Are you saying I’m gulli- gulli- easily tricked?”

“Yes and no. You’re trusting. There’s a difference. And you blurt out whatever you’re thinking; though it’s a blessing and a curse.”

“It was my singing that won you over, wasn’t it?” Mirage teased.

A laugh escaped Crypto. Something indecipherable flickered on the trickster’s face.

“I think our memories are being erased.” 

Mirage’s head jerked up in surprise. “What? Why do you think that?”

He unlocked his drone’s controller and located the file recordings. A hologram was projected from the drone. He played yesterday’s file. Mirage watched in silence as he saw from over Crypto’s shoulder as they ran from the ring and shot at the enemy team in the building above them. He stopped the video a few minutes in as he explained waking up with a note to himself and everything that had happened that morning. 

“Two things were in it,” he glanced up to make sure the other man wasn’t lost but he caught his gaze instead and he quickly looked away, momentarily losing his train of thought. “A- a USB and a small note. I unraveled it and it had the symbol for cameras on it so I knew I was being observed. I EMPed the cameras and watched what was on it, which was what we just saw. I thought maybe I was the only one forgetting, but after talking to you in the workshop, I’m guessing no one else remembers either. I knew I had to get out. There’s no telling how long this has been going on for or why. So I made a device that would shut down the entire system long enough for me to find an escape route, though that didn’t happen.”

Mirage was rolling a pebble on the ground between them, seemingly lost in thought. A flicker of fear went through him as the silence dragged on. Had he miscalculated? Was Mirage the wrong person to have told?

“You said I was trusting, right?”

“Yeah.”

The trickster met his gaze with such a sudden intensity that Crypto’s breath stilled. “I trust you.”

He let out a shaky breath, “Good. Then I need your help with something.” 

  
  



	4. The Pork Chop

Mirage was stripped to his boxers. He kept shifting on the ground in an effort to get comfortable, but no matter how many times he brushed the debris from under him a pebble would find its way into his thigh. Crypto was crouched in front of him, reworking something in Mirage’s suit with a small emergency tool kit laid out beside him. There wasn’t much to do as they waited for nightfall. Crypto suspected that the information they needed was most likely in Epicenter, but it was best they do it as stealthily as possible. 

“You’re an idiot for messing with it,” Crypto chastised, “but it’s not a bad idea. I think I can lengthen the amount of time you can stay cloaked.”

Mirage was completely bored out of his skull. He had been ordered not to leave the cave, not until his suit was done. His stomach rumbled so he fished his lunch out of his bag. He stuck his fork into the first porkchop and was merrily eating until he noticed Crypto eyeing him. For a moment he caught his eyes waver on his exposed chest then flick lower as quick as one might dip his toes in icy water. Hope fluttered in his stomach. Maybe he liked what he saw? To his dismay, the hacker’s gaze rested on the singular pork chop dangling from the fork.

“What? There wasn’t enough room for a knife,” he swallowed his mouth full. “Plus I don’t want to get stabbed running around out there.”

“You could have cut it up beforehand.”

Mirage paused. Why hadn’t he thought of that? “W-well yeah. Of course I could have but then it’d get all dry and when you cut it, it doesn’t retain it’s flavor as well and it’s pretty soph- sophis- it’s complicated stuff.” 

“Do you cook?”

Mirage lit up. “Don’t I! See, pork chops are my specialty. I have this really good recipe, it’s a well kept Witt family secret, but it’s by far the best thing I’ve ever had. Here, try it!”

He held out one of the pork chops on the fork. The hacker automatically moved away from it. Mirage waved it closer to him.

“Come on, try it! It’s better than sex!”

“I wouldn’t know about that.”

A silence gripped the two as the trickster processed what he’d said. Unnerved, Crypto went back to tinkering with the suit. 

“Like... you don’t think I’m telling the truth or you’ve never had sex…?”

A pause. Mirage was about to repeat it but was interrupted, “You’ve seen how rarely I leave my room.”

“Have you ever dated?”

“Yes.”

“Have you ever kissed anyone?”

“Yes.”

“Ever gotten a handjob?”

No response.

“Did you like it?”

Crypto glared at him, clearly flustered. “I’m done with personal questions. You’re making me regret talking to you. Again.”

Realizing he’d hit a nerve, Mirage dropped the conversation. Finishing his meal, he glanced around the cavern for something of interest. His options were rocks, pebbles, or dirt. His gaze flicked to the drone as it hovered above his companion’s head, the light focused on the task at hand. The silence was making him uncomfortable. He needed to talk. But more than that needed to hear Crypto speak again.

“I like talking to you,” he said as he stretched out on his back. “You have a nice voice, good insight, plus it helps that you’re attractive.”

He waited as the sounds of tinkering slowed to a stop, anxiety gnawing at his stomach. He flirted with people all the time, it was fun and easy, but only when they wanted to be flirted with. This was different.

“Don’t tease me.”

He rolled to prop himself up on his arms, small rocks digging into his forearms. “I-I’m not teasing. I’m being serious.” He hadn’t insulted him and left. That had to be a good sign.

“...I’ve never had anyone say they liked my voice before,” Crypto looked thoughtful as he set down the small screwdriver. “We’re going to have to get someone else to do this.”

“Huh? Why’s that?”

“I don’t know what I’m doing.”

Mirage balked. “But you fixed it earlier!”

“I fixed it because it was easy to see what you messed up,” he explained. “I’m not an engineer though.” 

“Then what do we do?”

“We’ll have to find somebody who will help us,” he paused, seemingly in thought. “Out of everyone, Wattson is our best option.”


	5. The Drone

They decided to get supplies before traveling. Crypto had switched the video feed on the cameras with loops of the scenery so they could loot unnoticed. They didn’t find anything worthwhile in Harvester so they decided to search through Sorting Factory as they waited for the locomotive to inevitably make its stop there. The top of the biggest station was lit up like a beacon in the night, but the lower sections were dim and they doubted anyone would notice them anyways. Since Crypto was searching through the lower portion, Mirage headed upstairs. Ducking into the rooms, he was dismayed to find that most of the items had already been scavenged and wouldn’t be replaced until the morning so he kept climbing the stairs until he reached the roof.

The cool night air tugged at his hair as he pushed through the door and with a grumble he fixed the loose strands back into place. Massive lights hung from the walls, over exposing the black and yellow rooftop and two walkways split off before him. He opted to take the right one. His boots clacked against the concrete as he surveyed the area, but the blinding lights were making it hard to focus on anything. He raised his arm to shield himself and as he did so he caught the movement of something in the air. It took him a few seconds but as he watched the far away object soar and bob through the night, he recognized it as a drone.

 _Wish I could loot without having to run around._ Pushing away the thought, he turned on his heel and went down the left pathway. A triple take laid on the ground beside a case of bullets. He jogged up to it as happy as a dog being offered a treat, and kneeled to stick them in his bag. The whirring from above grew louder and he glanced up to see the drone drifting closer. He flinched as he stared into the bright light and looked away. 

_Who made these lights?_ Annoyed, he stood up and wandered to the middle of the walkway where four metal containers sat on a raised dais. Something shiny in the space between them caught his attention. He got down on all fours and peered underneath the platform. A sniper scope sat in the dust, making him wonder how long it had been there for. He shoved his arm underneath, his fingers straining to get a grip on it, but the groping movements only moved it farther away. Frustrated, Mirage moved to the other side just as the enemy drone drifted over where he had been. 

Reaching under again, his shoulder was scraped by the metal platform and his face was turned upwards from the pressure, but he felt his fingers wrap around the scope. Elated, he pulled it to him just as he caught sight of the maroon drone hovering above him.

 _That’s not Crypto’s!_ Dropping the scope, he fumbled for his pistol, his finger pressed against the trigger. It drifted passed, leaving him baffled. _Maybe it hasn’t noticed me yet._

Shuffling backwards on his hands and knees, he managed to hide behind the other side of the containers without being noticed. He watched it buzz through the air, stopping in front of a few containers a ways beyond him before flying to the other side like a bee in a field of flowers. Disturbed from the blue light, a mouse darted out from the container and in an instant a bolt of electricity shot out from the drone. The small, brown body skidded on the floor and didn’t move again. The drone drifted closer to Mirage.

A bead of sweat rolled down his forehead. His eyes snapped to the door he’d left open. The roof stretched out before him without a single hiding spot and bright lights illuminated every corner. He’d have to be fast. Watching, he waited for the drone to turn to the other side. As it did so, he took a deep breath and thumbed open the catch to the cloak function. Slamming down the button, he dashed across the smooth concrete surface.

He pounded for the door, hoping the clacking of his boots wasn’t as loud as he thought it was as he slid through the door frame. Had he really decloaked a second before he went through the door or was it just his imagination? Flying down the stairs, he risked a glance behind him and strained his ears for any sign of pursuit, but the only thing he could hear was his bated breathing. As he descended the levels, the lights were more spaced apart, making visibility difficult. He rounded the corner and immediately collided into someone. His heart jumped in his throat.

_We’ve been found!_

His gun spun across the concrete and out of his reach. He tried to army crawl to it but the other person’s hands latched onto his chest, trying to stop him. He elbowed them, throwing them off but their grip moved to his boot as he slithered on the floor. He kicked them. A grunt of pain came from them but their hand released him. Right as he reached it, he was flipped over and a fist clocked him in the jaw. He tried to retaliate but both his arms were pinned behind his head. Grimacing, he waited for another punch but it never came. Crypto panted on top of him with his black hair plastered to his forehead, strands sticking up every which way, and blood trickled from the edge of his nose. Mirage had never been so happy to be straddled before. 

“Oh thank God it’s you, WhistleBlower,” Mirage let his head rest on the floor.

“What did you call me?”

“WhistleBlower. You know, because you’re finding out about this whole...thing.”

Crypto rolled his eyes. Mirage struggled beneath him but he didn’t release his grip.

“Hey, would you mind letting me up?”

“You kicked me in the face,” Crypto hissed.

“You punched me!” He bucked his hips against him, trying to throw him off but the shorter man was using his weight to press him to the floor.

“What did you expect? You were reaching for a gun! How am I supposed to know you’re not a part of this?”

Mirage stopped struggling, partly out of shock and partly because the grinding motion was dangerously close to turning him on. “What? Me?”

Crypto’s breathing slowly leveled out and his glare softened. “Joesonghamnida. For a moment I thought you were attacking me.”

“Okay, now that it’s agreed I’m not going to betray you, can you let me up?” 

Crypto motioned to slide off when Mirage felt something hard press against him. He quirked an eyebrow, causing the other man to freeze up. Alarm flashed in the black depths of his eyes. It seemed like he wasn’t the only one who had liked the friction. Curious, Mirage rolled his hips upward. Crypto’s breath hitched.

“So uh-” Mirage began but Crypto scrambled off, turning away from him to wipe at his bloody nose with the back of his hand. 

He grimaced as he saw the blood, “You made me bleed.”

Mirage stood up, adjusted his pants and picked the pistol off the floor, holstering it. Crypto kept his back to him. 

“Hey it happ-”

“Shut up,” he snapped.

Mirage was taken aback by the ferocity in his voice. “I mean I enjo-”

“Shut up, I hear something.”

For once the trickster kept his mouth shut. A whirring from outside made them both jump. Sharing a frightened look, they moved behind one of the cement blocks, pressing their backs against the wall as tightly as they could. Crypto was the closest to the exit they heard it from so he tentatively leaned out to get a better look. Mirage tried to look too but Crypto’s arm shot out, pushing him roughly back against the block. His eyebrow twitched with frustration; he could look without being seen too, but the hacker was too focused on something out of his line of sight to care about hurting his ego. Mirage risked a peek and caught a glimpse of the enemy drone from outside. 

As the sound came closer, Crypto gradually maneuvered them around the concrete mass, keeping his eyes locked on the drone. A blue glow crept across the floor as it neared them, moving like a viscous tidal wave. Mirage was craning his neck to catch another look when Crypto’s body pressed into him. The drone disappeared from his mind like dawn mist in sunlight. The hacker kept rubbing against him, the motion making his cock twitch in arousal, but he was too stupefied to get the hint. 

“Move,” he growled, shaking Mirage back to the present.

 _Damn, and it was just starting to go down too._ He thought.

They slowly moved to the other side so they were facing the large exit of the train station. Crypto waited, his eyes glinting in the azure light as they tracked the drone, then nodded and the two raced across the tracks and slid in between the concrete rails and the walls of the building. The hacker took out his drone and crouched low into the grass, the cooling tips lapping at him in the breeze.

“Watch my back,” he ordered and Mirage crouched and peered around the wall to get a better view of the exit, his pistol ready to shoot anything that came near.

Whirring sounds seemed to be coming from all around him, making him check over his shoulder a few times, but nothing came into view. One of his legs bobbed as the minutes ticked by. 

“Stop that, you’re distracting me,” Crypto said, eyes darting across the holographic screen in front of him.

“I-I can’t I’m nervous!”

“Stop being nervous then!” 

“You can’t just stop because you tell yourself to!” 

Crypto didn’t reply. After a few seconds he stood up, shoving his controller into his pocket. “Come on, I found a safe route out of here.”

Mirage jumped to his feet and followed Crypto as he trudged off down the hill toward the red lining of The Dome. 


	6. The Enemy

Mirage quickly learned there wasn’t just one enemy drone searching for them, but dozens. Every once in a while one would buzz overhead and he would activate his cloaking device, watching in amusement as Crypto threw himself into the nearest bush. The cloak deactivated just as one soared over the nearest cliff and out of view. Branches snapped as Crypto tugged his jacket from the clutches of the bush and he vehemently brushed dried leaves and twigs from his hair. Mirage snickered but it was cut short by a warning glare. As they reached the bottom of the hill, he stopped at the base of a jump tower. His eyes followed the length of the rope until he had to squint to make out the shape of a balloon at the top; the reds of it melding to purple against the night sky. 

Crypto padded past him as he pointed at the top of the tower. “What if we take this? We’d get there a lot faster.”

“Bad idea,” Crypto muttered over his shoulder. “We’d be spotted instantly.”

“Can’t you take over the drones like you did with the cameras?” Mirage asked, not budging from the tower.

Crypto stopped walking. “It’s not that simple. These cameras are constantly moving so a video loop wouldn’t fool them for long and to take control of them I would need time to hack into their systems, which we don’t have. We’ll just have to be stealthy for now. And whatever you do, don’t use your decoys. We need to make sure we’re not found.”

Disappointed, Mirage jogged to catch up with his companion. As they walked into The Dome, jagged spears of rock encircled them like a clenching claw and white domed buildings linked together sat on loose rocky beds. Between the striations of clouds, he could barely make out the thin blade of the crescent moon. Mirage stole a glance to the side. The orange glow of the rolling lava created a beautiful yet ominous lighting underneath Crypto’s jaw and ears as he searched the area for any unopened supply bins. The trickster caught sight of blood encrusted on his nostrils and shame swept through him. He hadn’t meant to hurt him. Crypto spotted a supply bin on the first rocky platform and eagerly jogged to it. Mirage leaned against it.

“Hey I’m sorry about kicking you in the face,” Mirage apologized tactlessly. “I really didn’t know it was you.”

He grunted in response. “Go look for supplies.”

Feeling stung, Mirage trotted up the stairs and entered the first building. Using the front of his boot, he kicked back the empty tarps and knocked a few gun attachments across the floor as he halfheartedly searched through the already looted area. He wondered why the man was acting so cold to him again.  _ Maybe he doesn’t like you.  _ He stopped in the middle of the hall, turning the thought over and over until he reached a conclusion.  _ That’s not possible, everyone likes me. What’s there not to like? _

He continued through the building and was met with a wave of heat as he opened the door. He was about to send out a decoy to check that the space was clear but Crypto’s warning echoed in his mind.  _ Killjoy.  _ With a glance toward the sky for any signs of drones, he hurried across the small bridge over the lava and was about to open the door when a deep voice stopped him.

“Hello, Skinbag.”

He jerked back from the door, aiming the barrel of his pistol at the roof of the building. Yellow eyes glowed in the dark like a panther’s and the robotic body was hunched above the door; the edges of his bandana and scarf whisked in the wind behind him.

“Oh, it’s just you,” Mirage lowered the gun, “I thought it was someone else murderous and scary.”

“Give it up,” Revenant replied.

“What?”

Revenant jumped down, his feet thumping against the grated platform as metal hit metal. “I’m growing tired of this game.”

Mirage took a step back as the robot stalked toward him. “I-I get it, work is stressful but we’re doing what we can to get us all out of here.”

The skull-like face stopped inches from his own. Warmth wrapped around his chin as Mirage felt his own breath bounce off the surface of Revenant’s mouth. Mirage lifted the pistol to defend himself but the assassin grabbed his wrist and twisted painfully, forcing him to drop it to the grate below. He let out a grunt of pain but it was cut short as his other claw gripped his jaw, lifting him slightly off the ground.

“We’ve been through this before. You run, I chase,” he turned his victim’s face to the side, eyes glittering predatorily, “It always turns out the same. He always chooses to save himself in the end and you both die and wake up as though nothing had happened. He doesn’t care about you this time or the next. He never has.” He leaned in closer. “So give it up.”

“What are talking abo-” a punch to his gut left him doubled over.

Revenant stalked back to the other side of the platform. Mirage blinked through the pain as the image of the simulacrum quivered in the waves of heat. He tried to straighten up, but the impact had left him nauseous and he could only manage to stumble forward.

“How would you like to die this time? Shooting you got boring long ago and I’ve only ever thrown you into lava. I think I’d like to try something a little... slower.”

Fear shot through him and he tried to dodge the claw, but the assassin was quicker. Pain radiated from his scalp as Revenant’s hand dug into it. He was dragged down the stairs and his knees buckled under him as his face was forced down near the churning magma. His sweaty hands slipped against the steel as he struggled to wrench the hand off, but it was no use. He was helpless.

An energy weapon fired and Revenant’s grip was released, causing Mirage’s head to bob dangerously close to the lava below. He tumbled away from the edge and glanced around in panic. The assassin was nowhere to be found. Hands hauled him to his feet.

“He activated his death totem, we’ve got to go,” Crypto shoved him toward the small bridge. 

Mirage pounded across it and slipped through the door of the first building, risking a glance behind him. From the top of the other building rose the silhouette of the assassin; yellow eyes ignited like flames and behind him were the telltale dots of drones in the distance. They raced through the hallways, the flickering shadows outside of the windows playing cruel tricks on them, before they rushed out of the entrance. Bursts of hot lava spewed from crevices as the broken landscape stretched out before them. Crypto jumped across one, but his heel slipped. Mirage’s heart dropped as the hacker shifted backwards, his hands flailing as he desperately tried to grab the air. 

The trickster’s calves burned as he leaped across. His arms reached out and for a heartbeat he didn’t think he’d make it in time, but his arms wrapped around the smaller man’s midsection. They tumbled back to safety in a tangle of arms and legs. The world stopped spinning as Mirage landed on his back with Crypto shaking on top of him. They gripped at one another for comfort, hands grasping the same areas as if checking to make sure the other was really there. Their gazes met briefly and Mirage was struck by the fear brimming his eyes. Helping each other up, they stumbled for the bright lights of Sorting Factory. Uneven rocks turned to grass as they trudged up the slope, but they skidded to a halt when they spotted a few drones hovering toward them from the other direction. 

“What do we do?!” he shouted, eyes darting over the rooftops and along the looming rocks for any sign of the simulacrum. 

Crypto’s breaths came out in short gaps and his head swiveled around as he searched for a way out. “The jump tower!”

They beelined for the tower as the whirring of the drones echoed through the arena. Crypto reached the rope first and ziplined up it. Mirage latched his clip to it. The air whipped his face as he was propelled upward and he felt rather than heard the bullets erupting around him. He spotted the assassin crouched on the rooftop; the sniper rifle thundering in the night air as another bullet soared a few inches above Mirage’s head. A moment of reprieve then another whizzed passed his hand, missing it by mere centimeters. The latch unclicked and he was launched off the tower. 

The green streaks of Crypto’s jet trail streaked toward the tracks near Sorting Factory, leaving wavering lines like an aurora borealis. Mirage steered himself to follow suit. As he neared the tracks, he caught sight of the train as it departed from the station. The moment his feet hit solid ground he was running again, though he found that his lungs hadn’t recovered from the last time. Crypto reached the train first. He leapt onto it and turned to watch as Mirage raced toward it. Another shot rang out and Mirage cast a glance over his shoulder to where the assassin was crouched, though he couldn’t see him anymore.  _ And he’s the one to talk about not giving up.  _ He thought. Three drones reached the tracks and shot toward him. A fresh wave of adrenaline went through him and despite his exhaustion, he forced himself to keep going.

The train was picking up speed. A shout from Crypto warned him to hurry. Another bullet rocketed through the air and he could hear the drones as they were gaining on him. He needed a second to think. He needed…

Without a second thought, he deployed his decoy escape and vanished.


End file.
